Locomotive water column



; UNITED sTTE Patented July 17, 1923.

ENT eerie n.

'WALLACE- ivr. GRAY, on CINCINNATI, 0111c.

LOGOMQTIVE WATER COLUMN.

Application filed-M rch 1,1920. seriaiNo. 362,224.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE M.;GRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing ;at

Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton-and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive Tater Columns, of which the following is a specification. a

My invention relatesto-improvements in locomotive water columns; One of its objects is to provide improved operating means and supporting means therefor to enable an operator on a'locomotive tender to I adjust and lock the column, and open and close the valve. Another object is to provide improved. spout mechanism. and supporting means therefor. Another object is to provide an improved spout. mechanism Fig. 1-is a side elevation of'the upper portion of a locomotive water column em bodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the rigid spout member detached.

The accompanying'drawings illustrate the preferred embodiment of my invention in which 1 1 represents a locomotive water column, which is preferably rotatably ad justable upon a vertical axis by known means and adapted to serve locomotives upon two tracks, and when not in use to be I adjusted into position so that the spout and spout supporting mechanism will not overhang either track. Thecolumn isadapted to be locked to its ad usted position by known locking means which is actuated to lock and release the column through an endwise movement of a link orconnecting rod 15 which is connected pivotally at its upper locomotive.

end to a bell-crank lever 16 which is p'ivjotally connected at 17 to a bracket carried rigidly by the elbow section 18 of thexwater column. Valve rods 20 extending-- vertically down the sides of the column are pivotally .connected at their upper ends to bell-crank levers 21,.which are pivotally connected at 22 to rigid projections carried by the elbow section 18 of the column. The vertical movement of the valve rods 20 serves'to-actuate a valve ofknown construction at the base of the column where it will be free from danger oftreezing,and which valve]. admltswater to the column when opened by lifting the valve rods 2Q, and cuts ofi the the valve rods 20 are lowered.

[ water supply and drains the column when A flange member 24:, having a short nipple or spout 25, and of cast metal for instance,

is adapted to be boltedto the vertical face of the elbow section 18, and to have renewably connected thereto a. relatively" long downwardly inclined sheet metalrspout member 26, as for instance by telescoping the sheet metal member into the flange 2A: to se cure a drive fit suflicient to retain the sheet metal member 26 locked tothe flange 2un til through injury or corrosion it becomes Iain necessary to renew the. section 26. thus enabled to provide a spout section 26 of considerable length which is of light weight, and relatively inexpensive, and is readily renewable, thereby providing for an extensive range-of adjustment of the adj ustable spout section, preserving'the balance of the. column, and providing for ready renewal'or repair in the event of accidental injury, as by leaving the spout over-hanging the track in rrpair of supporting members 30, as for instance metal angleloars, are rigidly connected to the elbow section 18,qand project Rollers31 out over the spout section 26. are pivotally hung from said supporting members, and an adjustable spout section 33 has connected theretoyat one end short steel cables 34which run ingroo-ves in the pulleys 31, and also in grooves in the pulleys35 pivotally attached to the elbow member 18, said cables being attached at theirv opposite ends to a weight 36, preferably in theform of a band encircling a verticalsection of the water column to enable the column to position to be hit .by a passing act as a guide for the weight. The weight 36 serves as a counterbalance for the adjustable spout section 33 and to enable said spout section to be readily adjusted to a variety of relatively d'ifierent positions, so as to direct its lower end into the man-hole or filling port of the water tank on the tender of a locomotive, irrespective of the particular type of locomotive, and irrespective of whether the filling port has been accurately positioned along the track beneath the outer end of the spout section 26 of the water column. In Fig. l I have illustrated in dotted line to some extent the range of adjustment attainable by the lower end of the adjustable spout section 33. It will be noted also that by reason of the downwardly inclined positions of the spout sections 26 and 33, that as soon asthewa'ter supply to the column has been shut off the water will freely drain fromsaid spout sections, and even in freezing weather is not liable to re suit in an accumulation of ice sufficient to ratus. Also that such draining of the spout 'sections'is facilitated by the free admission of air between the inner andouter sections at the upper end of the adjustable section, and that this free admission of air at the upper end of the adjustable'spout section facilitates the flow of water downwardly and out at the lower end of the adjustable spout section and thus avoids any liability of the water backing up in th adjustable spout section so as to escape at the upper end of the spout section 38, and between said section and the section 26. The counterweighting of the section BT-Benables it to retain any position to which it may be ad justed.

Two valve rods 20, extendingalong opposite sides of the water column are preferably employed to actuate the valve mechanism without liability of the same to bind or cant, and two bell crank levers 21 pivotally attached by the axle 22 to ears 40 on the elbow section 18 of the column. Pivotally connected to the upper ends of the bell crank levers 21 are two links d1, which at their opposite ends are pivotally connected to a Ushaped hand lever 42, which is pivotally mounted upon a cross-bar d3 carried at the free ends of the supporting members 30. A movement of the hand lever :2 from the full line position Fig. 1, to the dotted line position will serve to lift the valve rods 20 and thereby to open the valve and admit water to the water column, while a movement of the hand lever 42 from the dotted line position to the full line position will lower the valve rods 20 and thereby shut oil the water supply to the water column and also drain away any water that may be standing in the water column, to avoid freezing of water therein. A deflector 50 A yoke-shaped hand lever 45 is also pivotally mounted upon the cross-bar l3, and has attached to its forked ends the forked ends of a link at), the opposite end of which link 46 is pivotally connected to the upper end of the bell-crank le er 16. A movement of the hand lever 45 from its full line position Fig. 1 to about its dotted line position will serve to lift the rod 15 ant thereby withdrawabolt not shown, which locks the column against rotation. The column may then be swung into position with the spout over the track, or into position with the spout parallel with the track as desired, whereupon the hand lever 45 is moved from. its dotted line position to its full line' position to again lock the column against rotation. Turn-buckle 47 serves to adjust the length of the rod 15., and the turn-buckle 4:8 serves to adjust the" length of the link 1-6. The hand levers 4 and do are thus brought into position where they may be conveniently reached by an operator on the locomotive tender and operated as required in conjunction with the adjustable spout section thereby efleeting a great convenience and a material saving in time, and providing for ready renewal should accident occur.

The downwardly directed supports 30 tend to bring the operating levers more con- "veniently within the reach of an operator on a locomotive tender. It also together with the relatively long spout section 2-6 also downwardly directec, and the telescopic spout depending from said supports provides for the increased range of adjustment of the lower end of spoutsection 83.

Thus the stationary spout section is of relatively greater length, or of substantially the same length as the adjustable spout section, and there is a relatively greater telescopic action. and hence a greater range of adjustment, which is particularly available longitudinally of the track, as for instance so that instead of having to stop a locomotive within a range of four feet to one side or the other of the column. a locomotive may now be stopped and theifilling hole reached within a range of nine feet to one side or the other of the column. These results are attained without adding anything to the initial or idle-position projection'of the spout, or additional overhanging weight due to the spout and its supporting means. The use of two supporting arms straddling or at opposite sides of the spout, also improves the support and brings the actuating levers lower to the man on the tender. j The apparatus herein illustrated and described is capable of considerable modifi cation without departing from the principle of my invention.

What I claim is. p a

1. A locomotive water column comprising a column, adetachably mounted elbow section at the head of said column provided with projections for the attachment of spout arms an adjustable sheet metal spout section telescopically adjustable upon and exteriorly of said stationary spoutsection and counterbalanced relative to said column, and valve actuatingmeans and column locking means mounted upon said supporting arms.

2. A locomotive water column comprising a column, a pair of spout supporting arms projecting laterally and downwardly from the head of the column, a stationary spout section projecting intermediate of and laterally and downwardly from thehead of the column beneath and to substantially the same extent as said supporting arms, an ad-v justable sheet metal spout section telescopically adjustable upon and exteriorly of said stationary spout section, means to counterbalance said adjustable spout section carried by said supporting arms, a valve actuating rod carried by said column and connected by actuating means with an actuating lever mounted at the extended end of said spout supporting arms, and a column locking rod carried by said column and connected by actuating means with an actuating lever mounted at the extended endof said spout supporting arms to enable said actuating levers to be reached and said column to be locked and released and the valve opened and closed from the extended end or" said supporting arms by an operator on a locomotive tender.

3. A locomotive water column comprising a column, a detachably mounted elbow section at the head ofsaid column provided with projections for the attachment of spout supporting arms and journal projections tosupport a valve rod actuating crank shaft and a column'locking crank shaft, a pair oi spout supporting arms attached rigidly to said elbow and projecting laterally and downwardly from-said elbow, a sheet metal spout'section rigidly attached to said elbow and projecting laterally and downwardly from said elbow intermediate ofsaid supporting arms, an adjustable sheet metal spout section supported from said supporting-arms and telescopically and laterally adjustable upon and exteriorly ofsaid stationary sheet metal spout section and counterbalanced relative to said column, valve actuated levers pivotally connected to the extended end of said supporting arms, and

connecting rods operatively connecting said actuating levers to said valve rod crank shaft and said column locking crank shaft respectively to actuate said valve rod and column locking member from the extendedend of saidsupporting arms.

4. A locomotive water column comprising a column, apair of spout supporting arms projecting laterally and downwardly from the head of said column, a stationary spout sectionof light weight projecting intermediate of and laterally and downwardly from the head of'column beneath and to substan tially the same extent as said supporting arms, a sheet metal spout section telescopically and laterally adjustable upon and exteriorly of said stationary spout section,

means. to counterbalance said adjustable spout section carried by said supporting arms, a valve actuating rod carried by said column, a valve actuating crank shaftjoun naled to the head of said column and connected to said valve actuating rod, a valve actuating lever rotatably mounted at the extended end oi said snout supporting arms, a connecting rod operatively connecting said valve actuating lever to said valve actuating crank-shaft, acolumn locking. rod carried by said column, a column. locking crank shat-t journaled to the head'ot said column and connected to said column lockingrod, awcolumn loclring actuating lever rotatably mounted at the extended end of said spout supporting arms, and a connecting rod 013". eratively connecting said column locking actuating lever to said column locking crank shaft, to enable said'valve rod and column locking rod to be respectively positively actuated in either direction from the tender of a locomotive.

In testimony whereof I have afiiXed my signature. I 

